Weed, etc., guard for outboard motors



March 20, 1962 R. H. MARTINSON 3,025,825

WEED, ETC. GUARD FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Filed May 24, 1960 I l l WWW a M519United States Patent 3,025,825 WEED, ETC., GUARD FOR OUTBOARD MOTORSRoyden H. Martinson, 107 S. th Ave. West, Lake Mills, Iowa Filed May 24,1960, Ser. No. 31,431 5 Claims. (Cl. 11542) This invention relates to anovel and useful weed guard for outboard motors of the type having avertically extending lower unit with a propulsion unit carried by thelower end thereof, and more particularly relates to a weed guard adaptedfor securement to the lower unit of an outboard motor forwardly of thepropulsion unit therefor. The weed guard includes a fan-shaped memberhaving a plurality of arms with the arms being fixedly secured togetherat one end and disposed in outwardly divergent relation at the otherend. The weed guard is adapted for securement to the lower unit of anoutboard motor with the end thereof having the arms fixedly securedtogether disposed uppermost and the outwardly divergent ends of the armsdisposed lowermost with the frame member inclined forwardly and upwardlyrelative to the outboard motor lower unit to which it is secured.

Many boat owners, and particularly fishermen, occasionally have tooperate their boats equipped with outboard motors in Water areas havinga large amount of water vegetation and the like such as seaweedsuspended in the water adjacent the surface thereof. Operation of theconventional type of outboard motor having a propeller therefor, throughwater of this type can prove to be a nuisance inasmuch as the spinningpropeller is highly susceptible to becoming entangled with long stringsof the water vegetation. When the propeller be comes thus entangled, theefiiciency of the latter is greatly reduced and it is necessary to stopthe outboard motor and the boat so that the former may be lifted clearof the water and the weeds removed from the propeller.

Besides often encountering water having water vegetation therein,fishermen and the like frequently desire to operate their boats inrelatively shallow water with the result being that the bottom end ofthe lower unit of the outboard motor occasionally will strike asubmerged object such as portions of the bottom or upwardly projectingrocks and the like. The weed guard of the instant invention is adaptednot only to greatly reduce the possibility of the propulsion unit of theoutboard motor becoming fouled with weeds, but it is also adapted toproject below the lower extremities of the lower unit of the outboardmotor and be positioned forwardly thereof so that the weed guard itselfwill strike the submerged objects rather than the lower unit of theoutboard motor. Of course, the weed guard is carried by the lower unitof the outboard motor itself and therefore it must be constructed of amaterial having inherent resilient properties thereby absorbing most ofthe 'shock of an underwater object being struck due to forward movementof the boat carrying the motor to which the weed guard is secured.

The main object of this invention is to provide a weed guard foroutboard motors that may be mounted on the lower unit of an outboardmotor and positioned forwardly thereof and in alignment with thepropulsion unit of the outboard motor so that the propulsion unit of theoutboard motor will not become fouled with marine vegetation.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediatelypreceding object, is to provide a weed guard that will also projectbelow the lower extremity of the lower unit of an outboard motor and beconstructed of a resilient material whereby a submerged object inalignment with the movement of the lower portion of the "'ice lower unitof the outboard motor will be engaged by the resilient weed guard ratherthan the lower unit of the outboard motor itself thus enabling the weedguard to absorb a considerable portion of the impact and to pivot theoutboard motor to raise the lower unit thereof above the submergedobject.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a weed guard inaccordance with the preceding objects which will offer a minimum amountof resistance to its passage through water.

A further object of this invention is to construct the arms of thefan-shaped member of a material sufiiciently rigid to resist bendingunder light impact but sufiiciently resilient to bend appreciably uponheavy impact so that extremely heavy impacts may be more readilyabsorbed thereby.

A final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide adevice which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be ofsimple construction and easy to secure to various types of outboardmotor so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible,durable in construction and simple to use.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the aft portion of a boat shownwith a conventional form of outboard motor secured thereto and the weedguard of the instant invention mounted upon the lower unit of theoutboard motor, the boat being shown in longitudinal section;

FIGURE 2. is a front end elevational view of the outboard motor as shownin FIGURE 1, the transom of the boat being shown in phantom lines; and

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the weed guard.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generallydesignates the aft portion of a boat including a side 12, a bottom 14and a transom 16. A conventional form of outboard motor generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 18 is shown mounted upon thetransom 16 of the boat 10 by means of a mounting bracket generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 20 and the lower unit of theoutboard motor 18 is generally referred to by the reference numeral 22and has a weed guard generally designated by the reference numeral 24rigidly secured thereto in horizontal alignment with the propeller 26 ofthe lower unit 22. The outboard motor 18 is pivotally secured to theclamping assembly 20 by means of a pivot bolt 28 for movement about atransversely extending and horizontally disposed axis.

' The weed guard 24 includes a generally fan-shaped frame membergenerally designated by the reference numeral 30 which includes aplurality of arms or tongs 32. The arms 32 have their upper ends fixedlysecured together by a securing means generally designated by thereference numeral 34. The lower ends of the arms 32 are outwardlydivergent and curve rearwardly as can best be seen in FIGURE 1 of thedrawings. The centermost of the arms 32 is contained substantiallyentirely in a vertical plane and the free ends of the arms 32 positionedon either side thereof are curved outwardly therefrom and outwardly fromthe next adjacent arm 32 toward the centermost arm 32. Thus, it may beseen that the free ends of the arms 32 form a rearwardly opening recess36 forwardly of and in alignment with the propeller 26 of the lower unit22.

The securing means 34 completely encloses the upper ends of the arms 32and may be of any convenient construction although it is most desirableto provide a solid member 33 in which the upper ends of the arms 32 areembedded. In this manner, the weed guard may be more readily andeffectively streamlined to present minimum resistance to the waterthrough which it passes. It will be noted that the fan-shaped framemember 36 is upwardly and forwardly inclined relative to the verticalextent of the lower unit 22. The upper end of. the member 38 is curvedforwardly as at 40 to assist the movement of weeds and the like engagedthereby-downwardly along the fan-shaped frame member 30.

The weed guard 24 is secured to the lower unit 22 of the outboard motor18 by means of a bracket assembly generally referred to by the referencenumeral 42 which includes a rearwardly projecting mounting flange 44fixed secured to the member 38 and terminating at its rear end in arearwardly opening generally U-shaped horizontally disposed membergenerally designated by the reference numeral 46. A forwardly openingand generally U-shaped horizontally disposed member 43 is also providedand the two members 46 and 48 are adapted to frictionally engage andembrace the lower unit 22. The free ends of the legs of the member 46and the legs 52 of the member 48 are each provided with aperturedmounting lugs 54 which are formed on the free ends of thecorrespondinglegs and are outturned to receive the threaded fasteners 56therethrough for rigidly securing the weed guard 24 to the outboardmotor 18.

In operation, the U-shaped members 46 and 48 are secured together bymeans of the fasteners 56 in frictional engagement with and embracingrelation about the lower unit 22 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 of thedrawings. Upon. forward movement of the boat any weeds or marinevegetation near the surface of the water will be engaged by the weedguard 24 and slide down the arms 32 of the. latter to pass beneath thepropeller 26 of the outboard motor 18. Should the weed guard strike asubmerged object, if the. speed is nottoo great; the impact of the weedguard with the submerged object will merely pivot the outboard motorabout the pivot bolt 28 to raise the lower unit 22'above the submergedobject. However, if the speed of the boat 10 is relatively high, theresilient arms 32 of the weed guard 24 will flex appreciably to absorb agreater portion of the impact as the outboard 1 8 is pivoted aboutthe-pivot pin 28.

It isto be noted that the solid member 38 having theupper ends of thearms 32 embedded therein provides an. extremely rigid device for thepurpose intended and also provides a convenient handle. by which apersonmay carry the lower unit of the outboard motor 18 and also thatthe framemember 30 may be constructed whereby it may be secured in horizontalalignment with the propeller 26 to completely screen the are throughwhich the blades of the propeller travel or in a manner whereby theframe member 30 may be positioned in a slightly lower position asillustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. Further, the extreme simplicity of theconstruction of the guard 10 and its universal mounting means readilyadapting the guard for securement to substantially every type ofconventional outboard motor provides arelatively inexpensive attachmentwhich may be used to an advantage by substantially every outboard motorowner.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with an outboard motor secured to the transom of aboat and of the type having a lower unit, a weed guard comprising afan-shaped frame member including a plurality of arms, means fixedlysecuring said arms together at one end and the other ends of said armsbeing outwardly divergent, means carried by said securing means andmounting said guard on said lower unit forwardly of the latter andinclined relative thereto with said securing means disposed uppermostand said arms depending rearwardly therefrom, the lower ends of saidarms curving rearwardly to form a rearwardly opening recess forwardly ofand aligned with the propulsion unit of said lower unit, said securingmeans comprising an elongated rigid member completely enclosing theupper ends of said arms, inclined upwardly and forwardly and extendingupwardly between the lower unit and the transom of said boat above thesurface of the Waterand the bottom. of said boat in order that marinegrowth such as sea weed and the like will. be P evented from becomingentangled with said lower unit.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said arms. are constructed of aresilientmetallic material.

3. The combination of claim I wherein said. arms'are constructed, of aresilient metallic material, said mounting means including a rearwardly;projecting mounting. flange carried by said rigid member and terminatingat its rear end in a rearwardly. opening generally. U-shapedhorizontally disposed member adapted to frictionally engage andpartially embrace said lowerunit from the front; a forwardly opening.generally U-shaped and horizontally disposed. member adapted tofrictionally engage and partially embrace said lower unit from the rear,and means securing the free ends of the corresponding legs of saidU-shaped members together for rigidly mounting said frame member to saidlower unit.

4. The combinationof claim 1 wherein the upper end? of said rigid memberis curved slightly forwardly.

5. The combination of claim 1' wherein said rigid member is solid andthe upper ends of said arms are embedded therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS

